A Snake in a Lion's Den, or should it be the other way around?
by laurennjenks
Summary: Pyxis Malfoy, older sister to Scorpius, Daughter of Draco and Astoria. A perfect pureblood girl with a near perfect life. But what happens to that perfect life of hers when she goes to Hogwarts? When she ends up in the wrong house, with the wrong people and gets into all the wrong situations? Here's her story.
1. Chapter 1

**_A/N: This is my first fanfiction and i have no beta so reviews and comments are greatly appreciated!_**

Draco Malfoy thought that saying his daughter was excited to be going to Hogwarts was the understatement of the year. The moment she got her letter, she had pestered him to go into Diagon alley. It took two days of her saying please over and over again to break him down to go immediately. And as soon as she had got home, she packed everything but her wand and books, which she read cover to cover over the remaining weeks of summer. Now, at 6 am, she was bouncing about the house, singing loudly at the top of her voice of how she was going to Hogwarts. By the time 10 o clock came, she practically was tugging her father out the door. When they arrived at platform nine and ¾ she let out a gasp of wonder.

'Pix!' a voice called out. It was Ez. Ezra Zabini was the son of her father's best friend and they had grown up together. 'Hey! How exciting is this?'

'I know! We're actually going!' Blaise Zabini looked down at his son and chuckled.

'Right then, let's get to it, don't want you to miss the train!' Mr Zabini said. Draco and Blaise helped them put their trunks on the train. Then they returned to the platform to say goodbye. Pxyis' little brother was two years younger than her, and was sad to see her go. 'Cheer up scor! I'll be back for Christmas, and it's only two years before you'll be coming with me.' Scorpius sniffed. Scorpius and Pyxis hadn't always played nicely as children but they had deep affection for each other and hated to be apart so long for the first time. Pyxis gave him a tissue from her pocket and squeezed him tight. Next she turned to her mother. 'Now do try and write Pyxis, and remember to do your hair in the mornings and you remember how to do your tie the proper way don't you? Like I showed you?'

'Yes mother.'

'Good, have a wonderful time darling, see you in September' She bumped her cheek against Pyxis' so as not to smudge her lipstick. She gave her father a big bear hug. Out of everyone, her father was the one she would miss the most. He had always been there to sneak her to a quidditch match when her mother would not allow it or made excuses for her when she was late to dinner. 'Have a good term my little star' he whispered in her ear. With that, Ez and Pyxis waved goodbye to their families and boarded the Hogwarts Express. They found an empty compartment not far down the train but had to squeeze past a dark skinned boy throwing a fanged Frisbee to a boy with dark messy hair just down the corridor. They looked like first years, perhaps they would be in Slytherin like her. Pyxis and Ez sat down and chattered away during the journey, about half way through their conversation on the Quidditch world cup that had taken place that summer, the door to their compartment slid open to reveal Arianna Goyle, a cousin on her mother's side that she had grown up with. She didn't much like Arianna but she was forced year after year to sit through tea parties and fashion shows with her so she had learned to tolerate her personality.

'I have been looking everywhere for you! The whole train up and down! Got into a terrible mix up with some Hufflepuff girl down the train. A Hufflepuff! Thought to tell me off for not moving out of her way! Insane! Sorry, did I interrupt a conversation?'

'Actually we were just talking about-' Ez started.

'Never mind! I bet it's way more boring than the gossip I've heard. Did you know that Harry Potter's son is in our year? He's on the train!'

'Really?'

'Yep, and apparently he's exactly like his father..'

'What's wrong with that? His father did save the world..'

'Hello?' Arianna interrupted. ' Save? We would have been just fine, it's because of him that my grandfather, and yours were thrown into Askaban.'

Arianna chattered on for the rest of the journey to Hogwarts, causing many pained glances between Ez and Pyxis. When they reached the station, the three of them got off and followed the other first years down to the boats. Arianna, Ezra and Pyxis got into a boat together. As the boats came around the corner, Hogwarts came into sight. A silence fell amongst the first years and a few gasps of astonishment were heard. Pyxis looked at the castle, it truly was beautiful and amazing, it already felt like home. It felt like the castle was exactly where she was meant to be. The first years got led into the entrance hall and were greeted by a man in his 30's who introduced himself as Professor Longbottom. They were then lead into the great hall. The ceiling looked like the clear starry sky that they had just been under, candles were flickering over the room and four long tables lay either side of them. They stopped in front of a stool with a frayed old hat on it. The hall went silent and every eye was looking at the hat. Pyxis and a few of the other first years were taken aback when it started to sing. Her father had informed her that the sorting ceremony was basically where you had to wear a hat but failed to mention that the hat would be singing. After it had finished, Professor Longbottom unrolled a scroll of parchment and began to read out names. 'Adams, Isabelle.' A peaky looking girl with dark hair walked up and sat on the stool, after a minute or so the hat shouted 'Ravenclaw' and the table to the right clapped and cheered loudly. Professor Longbottom continued to call names out until 'Goyle, Arianna.' Arianna smirked at Pyxis and held her head high, walking proudly up to the stool and sat. The hat was on her head for all of a second before it shouted 'Slytherin!' The Table on the far right burst into applause. Arianna promptly got up and stalked her way over to the Slytherin table. First years continued to go up and be sorted until a particularly famous name was read out and the hall went silent. Everybody edged closer to watch the sorting. 'Potter, James!' announced the Professor, smiling at the boy with dark messy hair that Pyxis had past on the train earlier. Pyxis looked at him. 'So that's the son of Harry Potter, no way he's going to be in the same house as me' she thought to herself. Like with Arianna, the hat hadn't taken long to sort James Potter. The moment it touched his head, the hat called out 'GRYFFINDOR.' The table on the far left of the hall erupted with cheers and chanted which lasted longer than any other applause had that evening. As the list of students continued to be read, Pyxis glanced over at the Gryffindor table and saw that many people, including a fair amount of redheads, were greeting the Potter boy enthusiastically. She wondered if they were cousins, as she knew that the Weasley family were related to the Potters and according to her father, they all had red hair. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling 'Malfoy, Pyxis!' She snapped her head and looked up, her cheeks grew red as she walked slowly up to the stool and sat. Despite the fact that she was blushing, she held her head high like she was always taught to do. The hat was placed on her head. She sat there for a full three minutes without so much as a sneeze from the hat atop her head. 'What's taking so long? Just put me in Slytherin already!' she thought to herself. 'Slytherin eh?' a voice whispered in her head. 'Hmm.. there is some cunning in you I suppose, but you are a difficult one to place. Good mind, very clever, but I don't think Ravenclaw is where you belong though. Loyal oh yes, very loyal to the ones you love but a desire to prove yourself, now where to put you..'

'Slytherin, that's where I belong, my whole family have been in Slytherin.' She thought

' But are you the same as them? I think you're different.. Slytherin would be too easy. I know, I'll put you somewhere you really belong, where you'll thrive..'

'Wait, what-' she began.

'GRYFFINDOR'

Silence. Silence then became whispers. Professor Longbottom removed the hat with a shocked look on his face. Pyxis calmly rose and walked over to the Gryffindor table. She sat down just as the Professor recovered and began reading out the list once again. Pyxis looked down at her lap and held back the tears. This wasn't supposed to happen. She was a Malfoy, a Slytherin. So why then had she been placed in the house of the brave and foolhardy? She took a deep breath. She would not give anyone the satisfaction of knowing how much this had shaken her nerves. She held her head high and returned her gaze at the student currently being sorted, ignored all the looks that she was getting from her new housemates and tried to take her mind of the trouble that being a Malfoy in Gryffindor was sure to cause.


	2. Chapter 2

**_A/N Second chapter! thankyou to all the views and my follower! Also wanted to clear it up, in the epilogue, Teddy obviously isn't of school age, so i've put him in his last year and James two years older than Albus so they are at Hogwarts together, important for the plot! It sort of works, because Teddy would be 19 in the epilogue._**

For the first time in her life, Pyxis had no idea what she should do. Ez was sorted into Slytherin of course, the same with all the people she had ever spoken to in her entire life. She didn't know a single person on this entire table apart from James bloody Potter.'I am a Gryffindor' she repeated in her mind. It honestly was taking a while to sink in. She looked around at the other Gryffindors, who were either paying no attention to her whatsoever or giving her dirty looks. Great. This was going to be just great. Not only would her very pureblood Slytherin family hate her for being sorted into Gryffindor, so would the other Gryffindors. It was the same everywhere, as soon as people heard her last name, that was it. She was branded a pureblood maniac death eater like her ridiculous grandparents. Yes, her grandmother had tried to drum into her that being a Malfoy and pureblood was the greatest thing you could ever be, but she didn't believe that. Harry Potter wasn't either and he managed to defeat the Dark Lord. No, she was a firm believer that anyone could do anything if they had enough determination, but as soon as someone saw her bright blonde hair, none of that mattered. She began to eat the food that had magically appeared on the table in front of her, when out of the corner of her eye she saw an older student, around 17 by the looks of him, and therefore in his last year. He was neither giving her a dirty look nor ignoring her. He had bright blue hair and a piercing in his ear. The boy smiled and nodded reassuringly at her, then turned to talk to a beautiful girl with long blonde hair sat next to him. Pyxis was curious why a Gryffindor in his last year would even glance politely in her direction. Maybe he was just curious about her being a Malfoy in Gryffindor? She looked across the hall at Ezra, who gave her a sad smile.

After dinner had finished, she was led up a very large staircase by a fifth year prefect named Molly. Molly introduced them to a portrait of a rather large woman who was singing to herself at the time. The woman stopped abruptly as we climbed the staircase.

'First years?' she inquired to Molly

'Yep, the password is Mandrake.'

'Correct.' The woman replied, and the portrait swung forward to reveal the Gryffindor common room. There were portraits and landscapes framed around the room, armchairs by a roaring fire and red and gold banners everywhere. Pyxis thought that this room seemed much more cosy and inviting than the Slytherin common room her father had described.

'Girls dorm is up the stairs to the left, boys to the right.' Molly stated and with that, off she went.

At the top of the left staircase Pyxis found a set of five four-poster beds, hung with a deep red velvet curtain . Pyxis found her trunk already set on the bed at the back of the room, next to the window, she opened it and changed into her pajamas. She looked around at the girls in the room. There was a girl who's hair colour she couldn't decide on. Sometimes it looked blonde, sometimes with a hint of red. She was pretty. She didn't seem to openly dislike her like the others did. Maybe they would have been good friends if Pyxis wasn't a Malfoy. But she was a Malfoy, and Pyxis couldn't imagine having anyone in Gryffindor wanting to be her friend

The next morning, Pyxis got up and dressed early and then tied her hair down into a perfect plait that came round the side of her neck and down her shoulder. Happy that there was no hair sticking out she went down to the great hall for breakfast. As Pyxis entered the Great hall, she looked for Ez and found no sign of him. Sighing to herself she crossed the hall and sat at the Gryffindor table. She noticed the boy with blue hair from yesterday, chattering away to James Potter nonetheless. She sat down at the end of a table and eat her breakfast.

'Shouldn't you be in Slytherin?'

A stumpy looking girl with dark curly hair was looking right at her. Pyxis blinked at her.

'I mean, you're from a family of snakes, shouldn't you be with the other death eater children?' the girl said harshly.

'Enough.'

The boy with the blue hair walked over to Pyxis and the girl.

'Teddy, are you really defending the snake?'

'I said enough Olivia, leave her alone, don't you have nails to paint or something?' Teddy mocked.

She narrowed her eyes and stomped out of the great hall.

'Thanks.' Pyxis uttered. Teddy sat down opposite her, which caused a few people to stare at him incredulously.

'No problem. She was Olivia Wood by the way, good at Quidditch, bad with manners.' He grinned. 'I'm Teddy, Teddy Lupin, at your service'

'Pyxis Malfoy, at yours.'

'So, addressing the elephant in the room, you're the first Malfoy to ever be sorted in to Gryffindor, must be pretty overwhelming?'

Pyxis liked that Teddy was direct, he seemed sincere about it too.

'Yeah, well, I guess so, but I'm fine.'

'Of course you are.' At this point we were interrupted by Professor Longbottom handing out timetables.  
>'Morning Teddy, Miss Malfoy.'<br>'Morning Neville' Teddy responded.  
>'Teddy, I have said this to you since your first year, I am Professor Longbottom at school.' Chided the Professor, though he had an exasperated kind of grin on his face. 'Now I know you have Herbology with me first so don't be late.' He continued down the table handing out timetables.<p>

'Well looks like I better be off before _Professor Longbottom_ has me in detention.'

'Would he really?'

'Nah, but he threatens to, so I better not bruise his ego.' Teddy winked. 'And if you get trouble off anyone, direct them to me, and try talking to Dominique, she'll be in your classes.'  
>'Okay, see you.' Pyxis called as Teddy was off after Professor Longbottom.<br>'See ya kiddo!' shouted Teddy as he retreated out of the hall and off to his lessons.  
>Maybe Gryffindor wasn't going to be so bad after all.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

A/N sorry it's only a small chapter! probably won't be updating again till tuesday! Thank you to my wonderful followers and reviewers! As to whether her and James will be friends? Wait and see! i have big plans for those two!

Pyxis sat down by herself at an empty table in the Charms classroom. Her teacher, Professor Flitwick was one of the shortest wizards she'd ever seen, and she swore he must be nearly a hundred years old. Flitwick was busy with some papers at the front of the class when the door at the back of the class burst open. James Potter stood there panting along with a tall, dark- skinned boy and the girl from Pyxis' dormitory with the hair that changed in different lights. Simultaneously, they looked at the only free desk in the classroom and ran for it. The boys got there first.  
>'Sorry Dom' whispered James Potter with a grin on her face. The girl sighed and cautiously sat down next to Pyxis. Professor Flitwick's lesson consisted him trying to teach the class the spell 'Wingardium Leviosa.' After the first few attempts, Pyxis managed to levitate the feather which was on the desk in front of her.<br>'Excellent! 10 points to Gryffindor!' After another five minutes of the lesson, Pyxis noticed the girl next to her still struggling to get her feather to levitate.

'Try making the "Gar" longer when you say the spell' Pyxis blurted out.

The girl stared at her, narrowing her eyes as if to try and judge whether Pyxis was telling the truth. She turned back to the feather.  
>'Wingardium Leviosa.'<p>

The feather began to float up from the desk.

'Thanks' the girl said the Pyxis with a wide smile on her face. 'I'm Dominique. Call me Dom.'

'OH! You're the girl Teddy told me to talk to.. I'm Pyxis.'

'Teddy? I didn't know you and Teddy knew each other.'

'We don't really, he's just nice to me, he told some sixth year girl off for saying things to me.'

'Yeah, Teddy has always been like that, he hates to see anyone being bullied, unless it's by him of course.' Dominique laughed. Pyxis looked at her curiously, she couldn't imagine Teddy being a bully.'

'I don't mean it seriously, Teddy is part of the family, he teases us sometimes.'

'Oh, right, I get it. Is Teddy your brother?'

'No, he's my uncle Harry's God son, but he's practically my cousin.'

'Harry? As in Harry Potter?'

'Yep, James is my cousin, so is Fred.' Dominique pointed to the boy sat next to James Potter.

'Do you have many cousins then?'

'You have no idea!' replied Dominique. The two girls continued to chat for the rest of the lesson. Dominique told Pyxis all about her many cousins, and how it was a nightmare at Christmas because they all went to their grandparents' house and there was never any room with all of them. Pyxis found her stories fascinating. She had always envied people with big families. She had Scorpius of course, and Arianna, but she never had a sibling or a cousin her own age that shared her interest in Quidditch or in bands like 'The Bent-Winged Snitches.'  
>The bell for lunch rang and Professor Flitwick dismissed the class. The two girls packed up their things.<br>'C'mon Dom, I'm starving!' Called over James.  
>'Is your stomach the only thing you ever think about antler-head?' she retorted.<br>'I guess I'll see you around later then?' Dominique gave her a small smile.  
>'Yeah, see you later Dominique!'<br>'I told you it's Dom!' Dominique gave her one last smile before rushing out of the door after James and Fred.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Another small one, I couldn't resist. I promise the next one will be longer! And it will feature James and Pyxis! Thank you to all viewers/followers/reviewers. Special shout out to Insolitasum. Your reviews make me so motivated! You rock.**_

Despite her and Dominique's progressing friendship within lessons, on the whole she had to maintain that Gryffindor house were much more hostile than reputation would have you believe. Many Gryffindors would whisper to each other as she walked past. She would eat by herself, and go between classes by herself. The only times she felt genuinely happy were when she was talking to Dominique or in between classes with Ezra. Pyxis was eating lunch in the Great hall when she spotted Ezra and Arianna walk in. She got up and crossed the room, getting distasteful looks from the other Gryffindors.  
>'Hey!' she called out to Ezra.<p>

'Hey yourself!' he shot back at her, smiling widely.

'Want to grab some food and head outside?'

'Sure. Ari?'

'Actually, I'm going to eat in here.' Arianna said haughtily. 'Sorry, it's not that I don't like you cousin, because I do, it's just, well, I have a reputation to uphold. And, well, you're a Gryffindor, and I can't be seen to be hanging around with a Gryffindor, even if you are a Malfoy, I'm sure you understand. I know what a terrible situation this must be for you, I mean, being over there with them. Perhaps you could go and talk to the headmistress about switching houses? I'm sure that you being a Malfoy could bend the rules a little.' Arianna flounced off towards some older girls who were sat at the Slytherin table.

'Forget about her, c'mon.' Ezra led Pyxis out into the ground carrying a pile of food. They sat down by the lake under a large oak tree. Autumn hadn't quite set in yet, so there was a warm breeze.

'Is it really that bad to be seen with a Gryffindor?' asked Pyxis, breaking the silence.

'No, well, there's big rivalry so it's kind of like being seen with the enemy, but that's the others, not you.'

'But I am a Gryffindor.'

'Yeah but you're like a Slytherin too, so it's different. And besides, you know what Arianna's like. She always makes a big deal out of nothing.'

'Yeah, I guess..'

'So what's Gryffindor like?'

'You ever walked into a room and you know people have been talking about you? It's like that. Constantly.'

'That's only because they're jealous.'

'Oh yeah, of what?' Pyxis replied moodily.

'Well it's not your perky personality that's for sure.'

They both burst out laughing, Pyxis playfully hit Ezra on the arm. Ezra pushed her back, and she retaliated. They carried on pushing each other back and forth.  
>'Ez! We've got Herbology!'<br>They abruptly stopped and turned to find Arianna impatiently glaring at the pair and tapping her foot.

'We're going to be late.' She chided.  
>'Coming.' Ezra called back. 'See you later Pyx, try not to let any Gryffindors, or Slytherins for that matter, get you down.' He winked and walked up to Arianna.<br>Pyxis smiled to herself. Ezra always saw the bright side of things. She slung her bag onto her back and walked towards her history of magic lesson.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Here's a longer one for you. Be warned, a certain someone seems like a bit of a tool but there will be character development! I chose Pyxis as a name because it's a constellation and i think It sort of fitted, because it's a bit different like the character. This chapter is basically Pyxis/ Teddy and lots of Dialogue (sorry!) Next Chapter will be short and it will contain Draco, but the chapter after that will have some Quidditch! Once again, Thank you for reviews, follows and views :* **_

'Dear Pyxis,  
>I have been informed by a reliable source that you were sorted into Gryffindor. I cannot tell you the embarrassment this caused me whilst dining with my ladies club. I heard it from Mariella Goyle, your aunt's mother in law, who had it confirmed by your cousin Arianna, who was sorted into Slytherin. This has caused no end of shame for your family and myself personally. Unfortunately, I feel that I can no longer rest easily knowing that a percentage of the family fortune and properties will pass into your hands whilst you are still under the influence of blood traitors and mudbloods alike. I am afraid that I will have to remove you from the will. In the event that you marry a good, pureblood Slytherin man, I will reconsider adding you back as a beneficiary to our will.<br>Your Grandmother, Narcissa Malfoy.'

Pyxis stared down at the letter. She couldn't believe it. She had never got on with her grandmother, but this? Not that she cared about receiving money but it was the fact that her grandmother felt so much shame over something Pyxis couldn't control. And worse, what if her parents felt ashamed of her? What if her dad hated her when she got back? Pyxis had been avoiding writing to him because she didn't know how he would react. But now Arianna had gone and opened her big mouth, everyone bloody knew! She could strangle her cousin sometimes. She wiped the tears from her eyes and sat back against the window ledge. The Owlery was a cold, smelly, awful sort of place, but it was the only place in Hogwarts that she could be alone, without everyone's piercing glares. She felt as if she'd never be happy again, like she had no one. She didn't really talk to Dom unless it was a lesson, or they were in their dormitory. She didn't really see Ezra a lot because they had different classes and different common rooms. Gryffindors hated her, and now even her family might hate her.

'Bit of a weird place to hang out.'  
>Teddy. Teddy always seemed to be around whenever she didn't know what to do.<p>

'The owls don't know I'm a Malfoy.'

'Hmm, letter from home?'

'A letter from my grandmother informing me that I am no longer in the family will.'

'What? Seriously? Because you're a Gryffindor?'

'Yep.'

Teddy studied the girl in front of him. She had red blotches on her face where she had been crying. Despite that smile, Teddy was sure she was trying to put on a brave face in front of him, just like she did when she first sat down on the Gryffindor table.  
>There was a long silence.<p>

'Do you play Quidditch?'

'Well, I like watching it, I've only been on a broom once or twice.. Why?' Pyxis asked curiously.

'Come on.'

Pyxis followed Teddy down the Owlery steps, wondering where on earth they were going, and what it had to do with Quidditch. Teddy led her to a battered, old shed. Teddy whipped a key out of his pocket.

'Quidditch captains get special privileges' he said with a wink.

He unlocked the door and it gave a loud creak and swung open. Inside there were racks and racks of broomsticks. Teddy picked up a beautiful broom. A Nimbus X. Pyxis looked in awe.

'My godfather gave it to me as a birthday present last year.'

'Wow.'

He grabbed a smaller less elegant looking broom from the left wall. He passed it to Pyxis.

'Teddy, you can't just give me someone else's broom.'

'It's the school's. They have a few in stock for when first years learn to ride' He explained. 'You had your lesson yet?'

'No, it's next week, with the Ravenclaws.'

'Fair enough, Come on.'

He took off again further down the path, Pyxis ran after him. She couldn't see where the path led until it opened up and a full size Quidditch pitch

'Wow' She gasped, following Teddy out onto the centre of the pitch.

'Come on then, let's fly.' Teddy grinned.

'Well, it's just.. I've only done it once or twice.. I don't really know..how..' Pyxis muttered.

'Put the broom on the floor.'  
>Pyxis complied.<p>

'Now say "Up".'

Pyxis looked at Teddy. With a determined sigh, she looked at my broom and recited 'Up.'  
>To her surprise, the broom shot up into her hand. Teddy showed her how to mount a broom properly and they were off, flying around the air. For the first time since she arrived at Hogwarts, Pyxis felt carefree and unrestricted. The wind blew through her hair and she laughed contentedly. Teddy was laughing along with her. As they looped in and out of the goal posts, Pyxis thought that she would burst if she felt any happier than she did right now.<p>

'Enjoying?' Teddy called to her. Pyxis slowed to a stop next to Teddy, hovering not far from the goalposts. She just grinned and nodded, trying to catch her breath.

The pure happiness in Teddy's eyes turned to shock as he looked at her.

'What's wrong?' She asked tentatively, fearing she had done something to upset him.

'Your eyes' Teddy replied. 'They're gold.'

Pyxis automatically looked down, trying to cover her eyes. 'Sorry, I can't help it sometimes.

'Don't cover them up, it's amazing!' Teddy stared at her curiously.

'You think so? I've been able to do it since I was little, but my mother said I shouldn't be doing it openly in front of everyone. But sometimes my emotions get the better of me.'

'You're a metamorphagus? Can you do other things?' Teddy asked grinning.

'I guess so.. yeah I can change my hair if I concentrate but I haven't really tried to do anything else. It's weird right?' She murmured, embarrassed.

Teddy grinned at her. Sudennly his hair changed from the bright blue to a neon green and back again.

'You're.. you're one too?' She stuttered.

Yep, we probably both get it from the Black side of the family.'

'Huh? Are you related to the Blacks?'

'Yep. My gran and your gran are sisters. It's why I've taken such an interest in you if I'm honest.'

'So we're cousins?'

'Yeah I guess so.' He gave her a lopsided smile and shot off on his broomstick. Pyxis raced after him. They flew for another ten minutes and Teddy started to do loops on his broom. Just as he got to the top of the loop, where he was completely upside down, something shiny fell out of his pocket. Seeing the horrified look on Teddy's face, Pyxis sped downwards after the object. She caught it in her hand and pulled up just in time. Another second and she would have ploughed into the pitch. Teddy flew over to her. He had a look of awe on his face.  
>'How did you do that? That was nearly a fifty- foot dive!' He exclaimed.<p>

'I don't know..' Pyxis trailed off.

'That's it, Gryffindor need a seeker and I haven't seen a dive like that since Harry won that bet with Ginny on Boxing Day at the burrow!'

'Wait.. what?'

'You. Seeker. Gryffindor Team.'

'Really?.. Wait, I can't be, I'm only a first year. First-years aren't allowed.'

'I'll have a chat with McGonagall, I know she wants Gryffindor to get the cup back. We lost it to Ravenclaw in the final match last year.' Teddy looked like he had just won the Quidditch world cup.

'Teddy!'

A voice came from the end of the pitch. Teddy and Pyxis flew over and dismounted their brooms.  
>'Hey Jamie, what's up?'<p>

James Potter. Of course.

'Don't call me Jamie! It's James.'

'But you let Lily call you it?'

That's because it's Lily. What are you doing hanging around with her? She's in first year and you're in seventh. And she's a Malfoy.'  
>Pyxis looked affronted, wondering how on earth could this idiot and Teddy come from the same family.<p>

'James!' Teddy warned.

'What?'

'For your information Jimbo, Pyxis is the new Gryffindor seeker.'  
>James looked outraged at this.<p>

'What? She's only in first year! It's not allowed. Besides, I bet she can't even fly that well. What about me? I bet I'm a better flyer.'

'I'm fixing it with McGonagall.'

'But-' James started.

'James, shut up and listen. Do you love Quidditch?'

'Of course I do. I keep up with all the leagues.'

'And do you trust me?'

'Yes, but-'

'Then come to the first Quidditch match against Hufflepuff and you'll understand.'  
>They looked at each other intensely and James nodded. He turned to Pyxis.<p>

'Teddy clearly believes in you, I'm less convinced. You better be good Malfoy.'

'Don't worry, I will be.' She shot back, glaring at him. Honestly, Pyxis wasn't entirely sure about that, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let Potter know that.  
>They glared at each other for a few seconds more before he turned back to Teddy.<p>

'Vic's looking for you by the way. Guess I'll see you back in the common room.'  
>James turned on his heel and walked back up the path leading to the school.<p>

'Listen, I've got to go find Vic, I'll talk to McGonagall later on. Pass me the broom, I'll take it back with mine.'  
>Pyxis did as he asked.<p>

'See you later then?' She asked nervously.

'Yeah, see you later.' He began walking towards the broom shed, and Pyxis began to walk back up to the school.

'Hey, Pyxis?' Teddy called.

'Yeah?' Pyxis turned around to see Teddy almost to the shed.

'You are who you are. Don't let anybody make you feel bad about it.'


	6. Chapter 6

A/N I am so so so so sorry about no updating for the last two weeks or so! I've had exams and I deeply apologise!  
>Thankyou all my wonderful followers and reviewers!<p>

'Miss Malfoy!'  
>Pyxis was walking back to the Gryffindor tower after a particularly exhausting History of Magic lesson trying to stay awake. She spun around to find Professor Longbottom jogging to catch up to her.<p>

'The headmistress would like to see you. Her office is along this corridor and to the left until you meet a gargoyle. The password is 'Wulfric'. He nodded and descended the stairs, assumingly to go out into the grounds.

Pyxis carried along the corridor and turned left. She walked for what seemed like hours and could not find a single gargoyle. She passed a statue of a women and turned left again desperately trying to find the supposed gargoyle. She walked and walked until she came to a statue of another woman. Except, it was the same one! She had gone round in a circle. She tried turning right but as she turned the corner something caught her eye. She screamed and fell backwards onto her bottom.

'Dear me girl, no need to scream!'

'S-s-sorry.' Pyxis apologised as she climbed back onto her feet. She studied the figure before her. A large ghost with blank eyes and blood stained robes floated in front of her.

'Quite all right child, I do give people a fright when they first see me. What on earth are you doing wandering around up here?'

Pyxis tried to keep her eyes from staring at the blood stains.

'Um, well, I'm sort of trying to find the headmistresses office..' she trailed off.

'Oh well! Good gracious, follow me then, I'll take you there.'

Pyxis was extremely apprehensive about this, but followed him along the corridor, ghosts couldn't hurt her, they'd just pass right through her, wouldn't they?

'So I can assume by your attire that you're a Gryffindor?'

'Yes sir, I am.'

'Well then you're in Nick's house, I'm a Slytherin ghost myself.'  
>Pyxis didn't know what to say as they rounded another corner.<p>

'Here we are.' Said the ghost. Pyxis saw a stone gargoyle that looked like a Griffin at the end of the corridor.

'umm, thank you sir.'

'Not at all' he waved off. 'Call me Baron. Good day young lady.'

He bowed and floated through the wall.  
>Pyxis stared at the Griffin. She was straining her brain trying to remember the password Professor Longbottom gave her.<p>

'Walder?'  
>'Werewolf?'<br>'Wolfsbane?

She sighed. 'It definitely begins with a W.'

'W.. W.. WULFRIC!' she exclaimed.

The stone garygotle began to turn and reveal a step of steps leading upwards. She walked up the steps, suddenly feeling sick. With all the excitement of getting lost, she had completely forgotten to be nervous. What did Mcgonagall want?  
>She came to a stop at a large wooden door, she tapped her knuckles on it.<p>

'Come in.' a stern voice called.

Pyxis swung open the door to reveal a large cirular room filled with shelves and shelves of books and walls filled with portraits of aged witches and wizards that were snoozing in their frames. She looked at the large ornate table in the centre of the room. Behind it, was sat a stern looking witch in green robes (the headmistress) and in front was sat someone she had least expected to see.

'Hello Pyxis.'

'Hello dad, what are you doing here?'

'Well you haven't written and I was concerned, then I heard of your aunt that-'

'Stop, I know what you're going to say so stop.'

'What do you think I'm going to say?'

'That I'm a Gryffindor and I'm a freak and a blood traitor.'

Pyxis was breathing heavily, desperately trying to keep the tear that had welled up from spilling on to her face.  
>Draco looked heartbroken. He got up and pulled Pyxis into a long, tight hug, which caused Pyxis' tears to fall down her face as she held her father. They broke apart. Draco stared into her eyes.<p>

'You are not a freak. You are not a blood traitor. There is no such thing. You are a Gryffindor, and yes, there will be some fall out from that because of who our family are, but that doesn't mean that I would love you any less. You are my daughter, and my little star, and no matter what happens with the rest of the family, I will always be here to support you, I promise.'

Pyxis threw herself into her father's arms once more. She couldn't believe it. Her father didn't hate her, he supported her. Noone would ever know how much those words meant to her. She had been so scared, she had imagined losing them all.  
>Pyxis let go of her father and smiled widely as she wiped the tears from her face.<p>

Professor Mcgonagall, who had been silent up until now, decided that this was the opportune moment to speak.

'I've recently had a visit from Teddy Lupin.'

'Lupin?' Draco questioned. 'As in the werew- I mean as in Remus Lupin's son?'

'Yes. He's informed me that he wants you to be on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Now, as it stands, first years aren't generally allowed to play for their teams, however, being that as it is, each case is considered individually, and Mr Lupin tells me that you're quite a natural flyer, and assures me that he will do his utmost to make sure you are safe on the Quidditch pitch. However, ultimately because you are a first year, I'm deferring the decision to your parents.'  
>'<p>

Quidditch? But I've never seen you fly?' Draco looked down at Pyxis, bemused.

'Teddy says I'm good, and I love flying, I really do, it's like the best feeling in the world!' Pyxis chattered excitedly.

Draco could see the daydream look on Pyxis' face. She was clearly passionate about flying.

'Are you sure this is what you want? Quidditch can be rough and dangerous.'

'Yes I'm sure, I've never felt more at home than when I do on a broom!'

'Very well.' Draco turned to the headmistress. 'I give my permission for Pyxis to play.'

Pyxis beamed at her father. He swept her into another hug.

'And I'll be there I promise. I can't wait to see you play.' He whispered in her ear.

Nervous buytterflies twisted in her gut along with her excitement. He was coming to watch. He believed in her. She had to make him proud.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Here's another chapter! Longest one yet! Not sure where i'm going with the rest of the plot as of yet because i'm already planning a sequel of Pyxis' story a few years in the future! thanks for reviewing and let me know what you think about a possible sequel? **

Pyxis breathed deeply. She could see the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team chattering away at the other end of the pitch waiting for practice to start. They all seemed very happy and excited, though there were a few worn out looks among the older students, they were probably in their last year and studying hard for their NEWTs. Pyxis was very reluctant to go over. Teddy wasn't there and she could practically predict the hostility she would receive from Olivia Wood, who was talking intensively to a boy with shaggy, sandy- coloured hair. Teddy had taken her out the night before to go through all the rules and regulations of a Quidditch game with her, her head had practically melted when he started talking about team tactics. With that thought someone slapped her on the back.

'Not thinking of backing out on me are you?'

Teddy gave her a knowing grin and walked onto the field.

'Come on! What are you afraid of?' He called back.

With a determined sign and a tight grip on her new Cleansweep 3000 that her father had bought for her, she marched after Teddy but came to an abrupt halt as everyone turned and stared at her.

'What is _she_ doing here?' Of course it had to be Olivia. Pyxis was pretty sure that she was the only one in Gryffindor that could put so much venom into her voice.

'I told you all I had a surprise and this is it. Pyxis is our new seeker.' Announced Teddy.

Immediately there was outburst of whispering and incredulous looks, Olivia looked as if she was about to burst.

'Teddy you can't honestly trust her to be on the team? She's probably only doing this to throw matches so that Slytherin can win the cup!' Olivia was bright red and her nostrils flared. 'This is your last year, your last chance to win the cup! Are you seriously telling me that you think we can win with her?' Olivia chuckled at her own wit.

'Yes.' Teddy said simply. He turned to Pyxis.

'Pyx, do me a favour and fly up with me?' Pyxis complied. They were very high up from the pitch, the rest of the team looked up at them skeptically. 'All right, now I'm gonna throw this ball.' He pulled out a ball from his pocket around the size of an apple. 'And you are gonna show them what your made of, remember that awesome dive you pulled off when we first came out here to fly? Do that.' Pyxis gulped. The first time she did that, it was out of instinct, she didn't know if she could do that with everybody watching.

'Ready?'

Pyxis nodded. Teddy threw the ball straight up in the air. Pyxis watched it soar upwards then watched as it began to plummet back down. She let it pass her then zoomed after it. She didn't know when she should catch the ball. 30 feet from the ground. 20. 10 feet. Just when she thought she was going to plough herself into the ground, she managed to pull up and catch the ball at the same time. She flew over to where Teddy now stood with the rest of the team and dismounted.

'I think that was even better than the first time.' Teddy grinned. 'Any Questions?' Teddy asked with a smug look on his face. Everyone either shook their head of looked like they were still in show. Pyxis felt a rush of pride and smugness wash over her when she saw the dumbfounded look on Olivia Wood's face.

'Right this is Kush Chaudry, one of our beaters..' Teddy pointed at a broadly built boy with square shoulders and big almond coloured eyes, '..you obviously know our other beater.. This is Eoghan Finnigan our keeper..' A tall boy with a freckled face gave her a mischievous look with a hint of a smile on his face. '.. and our other two chasers are Ella Peakes and Jack Ashford.' finished Teddy, indicating a skinny girl with a cautius look on her face and a boy with a wide smile who looked as if he'd won the cup already.

The rest of the practice went fairly well. Pyxis practiced swerving in and out of everyone and Teddy charmed a ball to fly around so that Pyxis could have some practice catching it. By the end of the session, everyone was exhausted. They all traipsed up to the castle and as soon as Pyxis' head touched the pillow, she was asleep.

The next two weeks absolutely flew by for Pyxis, and life in Gryffindor tower has greatly improved. Teddy held three exhausting practices a week and Pyxis began to really enjoy her lessons and her friendship with Dominique continued to blossom. She now sometimes went down and had breakfast with Dom. Members of the Quidditch team (apart from Olivia of course) would often smile and nod as they passed her in the halls. Eoghan Finnigan and Jack Ashford, who happened to be very good friends started taking it in turns to nudge her in the hallway then act like they hadn't noticed, only to have the other grin and wink at her. However, every time she saw James Potter, he would narrow his eyes, as if trying to figure out something, so she glared right back at him.  
>The morning of the match against Hufflepuff Pyxis was standing in the mirror with her Quidditch uniform on. She tied her hair into a neat French braid and leaned over the sink. It felt like her stomach was tied into a dozen knots, she was sure she was going to throw up at any given moment. She mentally gave herself a push and walked down to the Great hall. She sat at the very end of the table staring at the normally delicious food that was making her stomach turn. She didn't even notice her team mates walk in and sit halfway down the table. Teddy noticed Pyxis sat there staring at the table, he got up and crossed over to her. Pyxis felt a sharp flick in the back of the head.<p>

'Pretty sure that table isn't going to transfigure no matter how hard you try, c'mon.'

Teddy pulled Pyxis down the table and made her sit with the rest of the Quidditch team. Everyone else was happily babbling away and Olivia and Kush were having a deep conversation about beater tactics. Eoghan had filled his cheeks with bacon and was muching away trying to fit scrambled eggs into his mouth.

'yush ud e sube bresaheb' Eoghan's voice came out muffled and he was nodding enthusiastically at Pyxis.

'Huh?' questioned Pyxis, not understanding a word he had just said.

'You should eat some breakfast.' Translated Jack.

Reluctantly, Pyxis shoved some eggs into her mouth before quickly swallowing some pumpkin juice. She raised her eyebrows at Eoghan and he gave a satisfied nod in return. After everyone had finished, they all headed out of the hall and down to the broom shed. As they left the hall, a chant erupted from the left hand side of the room.'GO GO GRYFFINDOR' could be heard from outside the castle. Pyxis passed Ezra on the way out of the hall, who gave a reassuring smile and whispered 'Good luck.' And squeezed her hand briefly. After collecting their brooms, they headed into the changing rooms. Pyxis had already dressed so she sat there in silence whilst everyone else got their Quidditch gear on. They all sat around on small benches whilst Teddy paced up and down in front of them.

'Right team, first Quidditch match of the year. Our year. We've trained harder and longer than any other team. We've got three champion chasers..' the team erupting into cheers. 'Two brilliant beaters!' More cheers. 'One Killer Keeper and One sensational seeker!' Cheers erupted from the team once more and Eoghan gave Pyxis a quick wink. 'Hufflepuff don't stand a chance. Now we play hard on the field today and we can party hard in the common room later! I know that the cup has our name on it's this year. So are we going to let Hufflepuff take it away from us?'

'No!' responded everyone in unison.

'Then let's get out there and show the world that Gryffindor are not to be messed with!' Teddy concluded.  
>Everyone jumped up and filed out of the room bouncing with energy.<p>

The game was in full swing and Pyxis had not even seen the slightest hint of gold on the pitch. Gryffindor were winning 50- 40. Pyxis flew well away from the bulk of the players and watched from above as a Hufflepuff chaser was flying down the field, nearing the goal with a quaffle in her hand. Kush pelted a bludger at her and knocked her broom, making it spiral to the left, but not before she had thrown the quaffle. It was too late, the quaffle soared through a hoop. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were tied. Just then, a glint caught her eye. She focused and saw the snitch glittering in the middle of the field. She raced after it as the Hufflepuff seeker quickly caught on and flew after her. She followed the snitch neck and neck with the other seeker as it looped the goals and flew from one end of the pitch to the other. It changed direction again and was heading straight for the Gryffindor spectator stand. The two seekers continued to follow, getting closer and closer to the spectators. They were going to crash straight into the stand soon. Just as they were going to go right into the crowd, the Hufflepuff seeker pulled up. Pyxis held on for a moment longer and her fingers managed to grasp the snitch just as she pulled herself to a sharp stop, only a few inches away from a spectator, none other than James Potter. Pyxis was filled with elation as the commentator announced Gryffindor's victory. She flashed a smug grin at James Potter and flew over to her team mates who were hugging in the centre of the pitch. She looked up at the north stand. Her father was standing clapping hard with a brilliant look of pride and joy on his face. After she had changed, she found her father waiting for her. He hugged and congratulated her, and promised to come and watch the next match.

She walked back up to the Gryffindor common room, where a party was in full swing.  
>Everyone was laughing and talking so loud that she couldn't even hear herself think. She saw Teddy sat on the sofa with who she assumed was Victoire on his lap, giggling away at something he said. He had left a bottle that said 'Firewhiskey' unattended and Fred was stealthily trying to pour some for himself.<br>As soon as Teddy saw her, he got up.  
>'And here's the girl of the hour! Pyxis Malfoy, our wonderful new seeker!' he exlclaimed, slightly slurring his words. Cheers erupted around the room and some people raised their glasses at her. 'What a brilliant catch! And Fred Weasley! You take one sip of that bottle and I'm owling your dad!'<br>Everyone laughed as Fred blushed and looked disappointed as he slumped back down in his seat. Eoghan came over and passed her a butterbeer. It was the most amazing thing she'd ever tasted. It was sweet and it warmed her entire body up. She chatted with Dominique near the fireplace and was interrupted mid sentence by a cough. She turned and found James Potter staring intensely at her. Pyxis glared right back. Dominique seemed to notice the tension between them and sighed, excusing herself and walking over to a red-headed girl that Eoghan had his arms wrapped around.

'Y'know, you could have seriously injured me, as well as a lot of other people in the stands.' Declared James.

'But I didn't.'

James' gaze softened. He looked down at his feet and bit the inside of his cheek.

'Look, I'm sorry I judged you so quickly. I've heard so many stories about your family from my uncles and my grandfather that I thought you must be the same.' James said to his feet.

Pyxis sighed. 'It's okay, I get it a lot, don't worry about it.' James looked up and stared at her.

'It's not okay. My grandad's best friend came from an all Slytherin family too. And dad says that he was one of the most loyal people he ever met.' He paused. ' And you're actually a pretty good flyer. There's not a lot of people who could have pulled off a stunt like that.'

'Thanks.' They both smiled at each other for the first time. James held out his hand, Pyxis shook it. She had to admit, she kind of liked his stupid smile. It reminded her a lot of Teddy's.

'Butterbeer?' inquired James.

'Sure.'


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Adoring all you new followers! I love you guys reviewing! please review! it gives me so much motivation. Two chapters in one day i hear you shout? Here's Christmas!**

Pyxis began to really start to enjoy being in Gryffindor. People began to smile at her in the corridors and say hello as they passed her. She could safely say things were looking up. She was sitting in a compartment of the Hogwarts express on her way home for Christmas. Fred and James were playing exploding snap and Dominique was watching intently, laughing hard when the cards exploded, burning the tips of the boys' fingers.

'So what do you do for Christmas Pyx?' James asked absentmindedly, trying to concentrate on talking and beating Fred at the same time.

'Well every year we either go to my grandmother's house at Malfoy manor or we go to my other grandmother's in London.'  
>James was paying Pyxis too much attention and ended up burning his fingers again. With Fred's victory, James let out an exasperated sigh and turned back to Pyxis.<p>

'So which one do you prefer?' he asked, slumping back in his seat dejectedly.

'Neither really. At the manor, it's always very quiet and my dad's mother is quite strict, but at my mum's mother's house I have to put up with Arianna so, whatever I choose is going to be a boring Christmas. Me and Scor just end up playing jokes on each other to lighten the mood.'  
>There was a astounded look upon all three of her friend's faces.<p>

'So there's no big family dinner with all your cousins?'Fred asked incredulousy.

'And no cramped sleepovers because everyone has to share rooms?' Dom added.

'Well.. umm.. no. There's not really enough of us.' Pyxis replied, feeling as if she was missing something.

'Weird!' commented James.

'Why? What are your Christmases like?' questioned Pyxis.

'Well all of our cousins, we all go over to our Granny Weasley's house on Christmas day and have a big family dinner and we all stay over and we all get knitted Christmas jumpers from granny Weasley.' James explained offhandedly.

'And how many of you are there?'

James took a while to work out the arithmetic in his head. He looked like he was in deep concentration, scrunching up his nose and sticking his tongue out slightly.

'25' he said thoughtfully. ' I think..'

'Woah, that's a lot of cousins..' James shrugged. She couldn't imagine having 25 people sat around a table at Malfoy manor. Her grandmother would have a heart attack. Luckily, she was going to her other grandmother's house this year. She couldn't bear to face Narcissa. She had seen some of the Weasley family at Hogwarts of course, including Molly, who was one of the Gryffindor prefects. She loved the way they acted around each other, they clearly were a very close family. She imagined them all sitting around a giant table, all laughing and wearing party hats. The very idea of wearing party hats would mortify her grandmother.

The compartment door slid open to reveal Teddy and Victoire dressed in muggle clothing.

'All right you lot! Best get changed seeing as we're about ten minutes out from the station. Pyx, I think I saw your Slytherin mate looking for you up the train earlier.'  
>Teddy grinned and pulled Victoire further along the train.<p>

'How come you still hang around with that Slytherin?' James huffed with a sour look on his face.

'Me and Ezra have been friends since before I can remember! You guys don't know him, he's really nice.'

James gave a non-committal eyebrow raise.

'Anyways, I best go find him, his dad is probably going to be waiting with mine. See you after the holidays?'

'Yeah of course! See you Pyx.' Fred pulled her into a one armed hug.

'Have a nice Christmas.' Dominique smiled widely and gave her a quick squeeze.

James still looked a bit moody but pulled her into a tight hug. 'Don't forget to write.' He whispered in her ear.

Pyxis left the compartment. After she changed, she set off down the train towards the end where she knew the Slytherins all sat. She spotted Ezra sporting a dark green jumper and a pair of jeans, leaning against the compartment door. As soon as he looked at her, he rushed over and picked her up, twirling her around.

'Where have you been? I've been looking for you for ages!' He laughed.

'Probably with her new blood traitor friends.' A venomous voice came from behind a compartment door, which slid open to reveal her cousin.

'Shut up Arianna, you have no idea about any of them.' Pyxis shot back. She mustered up the dirtiest look she could and stared at Arianna. The train came to a slow halt. Breaking up the tension, Ezra grabbed his trunk and pushed Pyxis out onto the platform. It took the pair a few minutes to find the faces they were looking for. They dragged their trunks down the platform and Pyxis ran to hug her father, whilst Ezra grasped his father's hand briefly. Pyxis gave Ez a quick hug.

'You're coming over for new year, right?'directing her question more at Mr Zabini rather than Ezra.

'We'll be there' assured Mr Zabini. The two men brief grasped each other's hands and Ezra and his father disapparated with a loud crack. As Pyxis and her father made their way off towards the gate, she caught sight of the Potter- Weasley clan. Dominique and Fred smiled at her. James waved and mouthed 'See you soon' and gave her a thumbs up.

When they got home, Pyxis opened the front door only to be knocked over by her brother who had threw his arms around her neck and jumped on her. They both burst into a fit of laughter.

'Missed you too Scor' she managed to choke out.

After they had settled down to eat dinner, the awkward questions started to be asked.

'So how was your first term?' her mother asked sweetly.

Pyxis mind had gone blank. 'Umm.. yeah.. it was okay.' She muttered stupidly.

'Any boys you like?'

Draco spat out his drink and look absolutely horrified.

'What? No! Mum, that's disgusting!' replied Pyxis, who thought she might be sick if her mother continued down that line of questioning.

Pure joy and relief spread across Draco's face. Pyxis' mother raised an eyebrow and smiled knowingly, she knew that a time would come when Pyxis wouldn't be disgusted at the thought of boys, and it would probably be very soon.  
>Dinner continued as normal, with Scorpius excitedly telling Pyxis about how we went to Diagon Alley with Draco a day previously. Later on that evening, Pyxis sat in her room writing a letter to James about the upcoming Quidditch match between Puddlemere united and the Wimbourne wasps (James' favourite team). Astoria Malfoy appeared in the doorway.<br>'Writing to your secret boyfriend?' she teased.

'No! mum I told you! I'm not interested, I'm writing about Quiddi-.' Pyxis stopped abruptly, unsure if her mother knew that she was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.  
>Her mother raised an eyebrow.<p>

'I know about the Quidditch team.' Astoria stated. Panic grabbed onto Pyxis' heart. What if she wasn't going to be allowed to play anymore? What would she tell Teddy?

'I disapprove.'

Pyxis' heart sunk.

'But I respect your decision, and if it's what you really want, then I'm not going to stop you.'  
>Pyxis breathed a sigh of relief. She nodded at her mother. There was a long pause. Pyxis began pulling at her jeans and looked at her feet.<p>

'I also hear that you've made friends with the Weasley's and the Potter boy.'

Pyxis didn't look up. It was a statement, not a question.

'Are they…nice..?'  
>Pyxis looked at her mother.<p>

'Uhh yeah, they're really nice.'

'Well at least you have some good friends at Gryffindor.'  
>Astoria placed her hand on her daughter's knee and squeezed it. She smiled and left the room.<p>

Pyxis was dumbstruck. She didn't know what to think of her mother's strange behaviour and her semi-positive responses. She hoped it was the start of her family accepting her. 

Christmas day came around very quickly. She had sent boxes of various sweets to Fred and Dominique and got Ezra a silver watch with green inlay. She received a beautifully decorated set of red and gold guitar picks from Ez, Weasley wheezes products from Fred and a framed picture of herself, Dom, Fred and James from Dominique. James had been considerably harder to get a present for. However she received a beautiful gold bracelet that has a lion charm and a snitch charm attached. Pyxis wondered how on earth James could have picked such a beautiful bit of jewelry. She wore it on Christmas day. It matched perfectly with the black dress she was wearing to go to her grandmother's house. When they arrived her grandparents greeted them affectionately and the amazing smell of roast turkey and cranberry filled Pyxis' nostrils. She peered into the kitchen and found their house elf Caulda stirring away at a gravy pot.

'Merry Christmas Miss Pyxis!' Caulda squeaked.

'Merry Christmas Caulda.'

Pyxis had always been fond of the house elf. When she was a little girl Caulda used to make her toast and jam in the morning and always put on a bit extra jam. Pyxis heard a loud knock on the front door. She trudged back into the living room to find Arianna arriving with her parents. She looked at Pyxis whilst she was hugging their grandmother. Arianna raised an eyebrow and smirked arrogantly. They all sat down, thoroughly enjoyed their meal and as all relatives do, their grandparents began to ask questions. Arianna of course was very eager to impress everyone with the vast amount of gossip she had gained during her time at Hogwarts.

'..And wouldn't you believe it, I heard that Georgina Nott was seen with a Gryffindor boy no less. Though I suppose that Pyxis could perhaps enlighten us about that seeing as she's from the same house.' Arianna remarked snidely.

'Well we don't need to talk about that do we?' Her grandmother chipped in hastily. Her entire family seemed to be steering clear of the subject of Pyxis' sorting. Every time Arianna had slightly mentioned Gryffindor, Jocasta Greengrass seemed to always have the perfect change of subject. There was a long silence after that. The only noise made by the clinking of cutlery.

'Pyxis made the Quidditch team, the youngest person in years to be chosen. I went to watch her first match, she was quite brilliant.' Pyxis' father announced proudly, smiling at his daughter. And so a conversation about various Quidditch matches and tactics occupied the rest of the dinner, much to the displeasure of Arianna, who had nothing to say on the subject. In the late evening, Pyxis and her family bid farewell and travelled home.

Pyxis was busy getting ready for the annual New Year's Eve party that was held at Malfoy Manor. It was a grand party that most of the "upper class" society of purebloods (as her grandmother put it) attended. She straightened her dress and made sure there wasn't a curl out of place. She was tempted to persuade her father to allow her to stay home, but she could never abandon Ezra. She hadn't seen him since platform nine and three quarters, and she missed him terribly. She had written to him over the winter break along with Dominique, Fred and of course James.

'Ready to go little star?' Draco was standing in the doorway admiring his beautiful little girl. He couldn't believe how much she had grown up. It seemed like only yesterday she was learning how to crawl.

'Yeah I'm ready'

They flooed to Malfoy Manor. The party was already in action. A small brass band played in the corner, many people were laughing, dancing and looking extremely glamorous. They family found their way over to where Pyxis' grandmother was laughing at a joke told by a tall, bearded man with greying hair. Her grandmother took time to hug Scorpius and Draco and bumping her cheek in greeting to Astoria. She put her hand under Pyxis' chin and brought her face up to look at her. Narcissa smiled at her granddaughter but Pyxis could see the coldness in her eyes.  
>'Happy New Year darling.' Narcissa's voice was sickly sweet. When another voice called out to Narcissa, Pyxis took the opportunity to slip away and search for Ezra. She found him standing with a group of Slytherins from families that closely associated with the Malfoys. She greeted them in the hope that this wouldn't be different from any other year. Ezra greeted her with a hug and the rest of the group nodded politely.<p>

'So then, the Pool house?' suggested Pyxis. They all wandered out to the pool house of Malfoy Manor after an assent of nodding from the group. It was tradition that whilst the adults were partying inside, the younger generation would go outside.

They all slumped down on the various seat and one of the older Slytherins bewitched some instruments to play in the corner. There was a lot of talking and some challenging games of exploding snap and a particularly courageous round of Truth or Dare. Five minutes to midnight, they all filed back into the main ballroom and counted down the timer with everyone else.

'3..'  
>'2..'<br>'1..'  
>'HAPPY NEW YEAR!'<p>

Pyxis turned to Ezra and hugged him tightly. They held hands along with everyone else in the room and sang 'Auld Lang Syne.'

Pyxis hadn't felt this happy in months.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Just a really small filler, some fluffy moments. Thankyou to all my reviewers! keep reviewing! :* **

Pyxis couldn't find her Gryffindor friends at platform 9 ¾ . She had walked up and down the train twice and they were nowhere to be found. Sighing to herself, she managed to find an empty compartment and settled in it for the journey. She was so unbelievably bored without James to laugh with, or friends trying to pull off pranks or Dom to talk to. This term, she had decided to bring her guitar with her to Hogwarts. Unlike most people who bewitched a guitar to play as they sang, Pyxis had decided to learn how to play it when she was around 10. She pulled it from it's case and began playing one of her favourite songs 'Where have all the kings gone?' by the Bent-Winged Snitches (her favourite band). She sang quietly to herself, but soon forgot that she was on a train full of packed people and began to be completely absorbed in the song.

'I didn't know you could sing!'

Pyxis jumped back so hard she almost hit her head on the rack about her and dropped her guitar at the same time. James was standing in the doorway, a smile playing on his lips.

'Well I.. uhh.. don't sing in front of anyone really.' Pyxis replied, hastily trying to put her guitar back. James rushed forward and put his hand on the guitar to stop it being put away.  
>'Don't. Why don't you sing in front of anyone? You're really good.'<p>

'I just can't.'

There was a long pause.

'Bent-winged Snitches right?' He questioned, already knowing the answer.  
>Pyxis looked up in surprise. No one ever knew the Bent-winged Snitches. They weren't exactly a 'pop' band.<p>

'You know the Bent-winged Snitches?' she asked incredulously.  
>James smiled and responded by singing the chorus of one of their other songs 'Gonna make you shake tonight'.<p>

'…but when the lights turn on, I'm gonna make you shake tonight.' He finished.

Pyxis gave him a round of applause. James eventually coaxed her into playing another song for him. After about an hour of them singing and laughing, a sudden thought struck Pyxis.

'Uhh, James, where are Fred and Dom?'

'Oh they're down the other end of the train. With Molly and Teddy and Victoire. I was meant to come find you and bring you back down.' He shrugged.

'And why didn't you?' questioned Pyxis with a small mischievous smile forming on her face. James shrugged again.

'You had a guitar out. And besides, the rest of them don't even know the Bent-winged Snitches.'

'You could have said that they wanted me to come down the train to them.' Pyxis stated, fake anger forming on her face. James looked horrified, he didn't mean to make her angry, he wanted to make her sing.

'Well.. I.. I'm.. ' He saw a smile spread slowly on her face and her eyebrows raise. 'I actually thought you were angry at me then!' He shoved her playfully. A full on fight ensued, with lots of shoving and tickling.

'Well James, if you wanted to have her to yourself you should have just said.'

The fight stopped abruptly and they both turned to see Teddy standing in the doorway, with Fred behind him sniggering. Pyxis and James went bright red and disentangled themselves from each other. James mumbled something. The only words that were discernable were 'not like that'. Everyone helped Pyxis with her luggage down to the other compartment. Pyxis greeted Victoire and hugged Dominique.

'What took you so long?' Victoire directed at Teddy.

'We found those two in a compromising position.'

Once again, James and Pyxis went bright red. 'We were fighting!' insisted James.

The compartment filled with laughter.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: The next chapter (not this one, the next one) will be the last of this story! Fear not! Pyxis will return in a sequel! It will skip forward to our little pranksters' fifth year at Hogwarts. I will also be doing a small story about the time when Pyxis and James argued and weren't friends during their second year, so look out for that too! Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers and followers! **

Life carried on at Hogwarts. Pyxis' friendship with James, Dominique and Fred became very strong over the passing months. They were barely seen without each other's company. Pyxis would often go and spend a lunchtime or an evening with Ezra and became friendly with some of his Slytherin piers. She trained twice a week with her Quidditch team and they steamrolled the Slytherin team in their Quidditch match. She gained a good relationship with her teammates, especially Jack and Eoghan. Teddy and her would often be found sat in the common room together, telling each other stories about their shared family history. However, the closer they got to the exam period, the more work and revision the teachers seemed to be setting them.

'UGH! I seriously don't know how Binns expects us to do another foot and a half on the Goblin wars!' Fred complained.

They were all laying around by the fireplace in the common room doing the massive amount of homework they had.

'I know, completely barbaric! It's sooooooo boring.' Dom threw her quill down and turned over to lay on her back.

Pyxis chuckled at her friends. She glanced at James, whose brow was furrowed in concentration and his tongue sticking out. Pyxis laughed louder. James looked up.

'Shut up, I'm concentrating here!' he shot at her.

'Yeah but do you have to look like an idiot doing it?' Pyxis choked out, clutching her stomach for support. James threw a cushion and hit Pyxis square in the face, knocking her backwards. After her giggling fit had subsided, Pyxis sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes.

'We need a break. How about we use some of that pranking gear you got me for Christmas Fred?' She said micheviously.  
>The scowl that was on James' face turned into a wicked smile.<p>

'Hell yes, I know just the victims!' he said with a glint in his eye.

An hour later, they resumed their homework. James looked at the clock. It was taking a long time, maybe it hadn't worked. He continued to scratch at his parchment. Just as he was writing about how Greeqizell the Great fought Bascrull the Brave, the portrait to the common room swung open.

'FRED! JAMES!'  
>A soaking wet Teddy marched angrily into the common room, with Victoire walking moodily in behind him, dripping water all over the floor.<br>The four pranksters held in their laughter. The almost- smiles on their face threatening to give away their guilt.

'Weather in a bottle? That's one of your dad's products Fred!'

'Lots of people go to my dad's shop.' Replied Fred sweetly.

'Yeah but not a lot of people know where me and Vic go to-' he stopped, coughing to cover up his mistake.

'Go to what Ted?' James asked, putting on the most innocent look on his face. Teddy's cheeks turned bright pink.

'Nothing. I will get you all for this.'  
>He and Victoire marched off to their respective dorm rooms to dry off.<br>Once they had made sure that Teddy and Victoire were safely out of earshot, the four of them burst into a long fit of laughter, clutching their stomach and rolling around on the floor.

'I'm so glad I knew where they go to kiss, that was the funniest thing I've ever seen.' Dominique said, gasping for air.  
>Once, the laughter had died, they settled down and tried to write the rest of their essays.<p>

On the morning of the Quidditch cup final (Gryffindor vs Ravenclaw), Pyxis was walking down to the Great hall with James for breakfast, talking tactics. They were walking through the entrance hall when they heard a voice shouting behind them.

'Pyx! Wait up!'  
>They both turned around. Ezra was running up from the corridor that lead to the dungeons. He caught up to them.<p>

'Potter.'

'Zabini.' They nodded to each other. Pyxis knew that the two boys disliked each other. Ez thought that James was too arrogant and James thought that Ez was pompous. She knew that the both boys had put their differences aside as they both knew how much the other meant to Pyxis.

'I'll meet you in the hall Pyx.' James stated, and walked to get his breakfast.

'Good luck today, I know you're gonna be great!'

'Thanks, but the Ravenclaw seeker is brilliant, I watched some of his matches and he hasn't missed a single snitch!'

Ezra could see the worried look on Pyxis' face. He placed his hands on her shoulders.

'Neither have you Pyx. I know you can do this.'

Pyxis gave his a small smile. He squeezed her shoulder.  
>They walked into the Great hall.<p>

'Good luck.' He whispered as they parted ways.

Pyxis sat huddled together with her teammates, and a few other Gryffindors including James. Teddy was breathing quickly. It was the first time Pyxis had ever seen Teddy nervous. Obviously, Pyxis wasn't the only one to notice. Victoire placed her hand on Teddy's, stopping him from tapping his fingers. They shared a look. As if no one knew anything but them. A smile crept up Pyxis' face. She wondered if one day she would share such a meaningful look with someone. They seemed to understand each other perfectly. James nudged Pyxis, nodding at the eggs and toast he'd put onto her plate. He smiled and stuffed his face full off bacon. Pyxis chuckled and began her own breakfast. After a few minutes, Teddy kissed Victoire on the forehead and stood up. The team all stopped what they were doing and looked up at their captain.

'Well come on then! We're not going to lose the cup because you lot are stuffing your faces!'

There was an outbreak of the scraping of seats and people hurriedly trying to finish the rest of their juice with Eoghan trying to fit as much of his remaining toast into his mouth as humanly possible.

They sat expectantly in front of Teddy. Garbed in red and gold with all their gear on.  
>Teddy breathed deeply.<p>

'We're so close. Today we're going to be the heroes. Today, we're going to lift that cup and we're going to gloat in the Ravenclaw's smug faces. They took the cup, our cup, away from us last year, and I'll be damned if I let them do it again this year.'

He looked around the room.

'This is our year!'

Cheers erupted.

'Our cup!' Everyone got to their feet.

'We are lions!' Cheers turned to shouts.

'AND WE ARE GOING TO KNOCK THOSE EAGLES OUT OF THE SKY!' 

Fifteen minutes into the game and Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were neck and neck. They had twenty points each. Pyxis was circling the pitch trying to ignore the Ravenclaw seeker, who was trying to distract her by pulling tricks and calling her name. He was really starting to get on her nerves. Suddenly a glint of gold flickered near the Ravenclaw hoops. Pyxis charged after it. The Ravenclaw keeper clearly didn't understand what was going on, as there was a panicked look on her face as Pyxis raced towards her. She whizzed past the keeper and was within an arms reach of the snitch. Suddenly, the Ravenclaw seeker, Roscoe Smith, hit her arm out of the way. Within a second, the snitch had disappeared again. She turned around angrily only to find that Smith had zoomed off with a smug grin on his face.  
>She resumed circling the pitch once more.<p>

'Hey Malfoy!' Smith called over. 'Aren't snakes lunch to eagles? Sure you want to be up here with us?'  
>Anger flushed her face.<p>

'How come you got to be so close with Potter? Didn't your father like try to kill his father a few times?'

She breathed deeply, desperately trying to ignore him.

'Mini- Death eater. You're probably trying to infiltrate Gryffindor and go back to your own side at the most opportune moment.  
>That was it, saying she was a snake was one thing, but saying that she would betray and hurt James and her friends? That, she couldn't take.<br>She turned to face Smith opening her mouth to say something vulgar but she noticed a gold shimmer behind his head. He hadn't noticed. She flew right at him. He looked confused and slightly worried at her apparent violent outburst. She flew right past him towards the snitch. Smith soon caught on to what was really happening and slowly caught up with Pyxis. The snitch was flying straight for the stands once again.

'I know your game Malfoy, I watched your first match! I'm not pulling up before you do so you can get the snitch.'

Ignoring him, she continued to chase the snitch. They were about to crash, Smith was looking back and forth from the snitch to Pyxis. Pyxis suddenly leant forward on her broom, grabbed the snitch and pulled up. Unfortunately, Smith wasn't as quick on his reflexes and went straight into the stands.

The noise was deafening. The Gryffindors were screaming, the Hufflepuffs cheered, even some of the Slytherins were clapping along with the crowd. Suddenly something crashed into Pyxis. Teddy had flown right into her, throwing his arms around her. There was another thump. Jack was there. Thump. Eoghan. Thump. Kush. Soon all of the team were hugging and crying in a heap and gently floated downwards, exhausted and ecstatic that all their hard work had finally paid off. Pyxis tried to find Ezra or her father in the crowd but she was too caught up in the elation of her team. They landed and Madam Hooch marched over and gave Teddy the cup. He lifted it for all to see. They reveled in their success a while longer, before skipping off to the changing rooms, arms around each other.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Here it is! the last chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who's followed and favourited this story! This only a short chapter to end, but it ends on the perfect note for the sequel. The sequel will be when Pyxis is in fifth year, so the rating will be different as i want it to be true to a modern teenager's life. I will also be doing a small James/ Pyxis story at some point about the time they argued. Look out for that one. **

**The sequel will be called 'A snake pit or a Lion's Den?' and the first chapter will be up within a few days. Hope you've enjoyed Pyxis' first year! PLEASE REVIEW :***

The party was a very long and elated one. Pyxis laughed and drank butterbeer for hours. The euphoria of Gryffindor winning the cup lasted well over a week. The Gryffindor team would sit in the common room together, eat meals together and hang out. Pyxis also passed Roscoe Smith in the halls. Turns out, he broke his nose so badly that Madam Pomfrey couldn't fix it all right away, so he had to wear a splint for three days. Whenever they passed each other, Smith would narrow his eyes and shoot a sour look. The euphoria was not to last because exams were fast approaching. Pyxis hardly ever saw Ezra during the exam period unless they went to the library together. 

'I completely failed that one.' Dominique said dejectedly.

'Well, at least you're guaranteed to do better than me.' Fred laughed. I definitely made up all of the goblin names I just used.'

Laughter ensued. Pyxis, along with James, Dominique and Fred were sat under a large oak tree by the lake after sitting their last exam. Pyxis was laying on her back, legs across James' lap. She looked at him.

'What's wrong?'

James snapped out of his daydream.

'Nothing.'

'No, there's something wrong, I know your expressions too well Mr Potter.'

'Well, it's just.. the end of the year. We're not going to be all together again until September.'

'Don't be stupid. We'll write.'

'Not the same' He muttered grumpily. They sat in a sad silence. Pyxis had grown very close to the three of them. James was right, she was going to miss them all terribly. Teddy came striding over.

'Why do you all look as if you've been hit in the face with a bludger?'

'End of the year. We won't see Pyxis til September now.' Dom explained.

'Well why can't she come over during the summer?'

'We go away for four weeks and spend the rest with family and stuff.' Pyxis mumbled sadly.

'Ah. Well I guarantee summer will go faster than you think. Pyx do you mind doing me a favour? Can you go give this to Mcgonagall for me?' he handed her a sealed envelope. 'I need to head to my last exam. It's my recommendations for next year's Quidditch captain, so no looking!'  
>Pyxis smiled at him. Teddy gave her a wink and walked towards the castle.<p>

'Catch up with you guys in the common room?' She asked.

This time Pyxis managed to remember how to get to the headmistress' office.  
>'Wulfric' she stated confidently, and the Griffin began to revolve into a set of steps. She got to the top of the steps and found the door was slightly ajar. She heard two voices coming from inside. She didn't mean to eavesdrop. Honestly.<p>

'To have another prophecy like this is unnerving.' A deep, commanding voice boomed.

'I don't think so, it could mean anything?'

Professor Mcgonagall.

'Dark forces Minerva. That's what it says. There's no way he could come back but what about the people still loyal to his ideals?'

Who were they talking about? What ideals? If it was dark forces that probably means-

'What's the whole thing again?

'Dark forces shall rise up again,  
>To take revenge on the one held responsible.<br>One cornered in a snake pit,

Will rise up and get bitten or cower and hide.  
>This choice will end their days or end their roar.<p>

One will die at the negligence of a friend, or at the hands of one they called ally.'

Pyxis's mind was spinning. A prophecy about dark forces rising? She felt sick. If it was dark forces, it probably meant pureblood fanatics, A.K.A the "pureblood upper class" as her grandmother would say. And a snake pit? Surely that's got to be something to do with Slytherin. But it also says roar. Gryffindor? She didn't know what to think. The talking had ended, Pyxis snapped back to the present. She had to act like she hadn't heard anything. She rapped on the door.

'Come in.'

She pushed open the door and saw the other voice belonged to a tall, dark- skinned wizard with a single hoop earring in his left ear.

'Minister, this is Pyxis Malfoy, a Gryffindor first year. Pyxis, this is Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic.'

Pyxis nodded politely. 'Nice to meet you minister.'

He smiled widely. 'Nice to meet you too.'

Pyxis turned back to the headmistress and handed her Teddy's letter.

'Teddy's recommendation letter. He's in an exam.'

'Thank you.'

She nodded at Pyxis, clearly indicating that this was her opportunity to leave. Pyxis swiftly turned around and exited. But before she had fully closed the door, Mcgonagall and the minister started talking again.

'A Malfoy in Gryffindor. A Lion among snakes. You don't think-'

'No. Absolutely not. I will not have more childhoods ruined by prophecies. It can't be.'

**That's it! Cliffhanger! Read the sequel to find out more! 'A snake pit or a lion's den?' Will be posted within a few days!**


	12. Sequel info

THE SEQUEL IS NOW UP LADIES AND GENTS!

'A Snake's put or a Lion's life?'

s/11030687/1/A-Snake-s-pit-or-a-Lion-s-life


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